Other arguments may be founded upon linguistic considerations. Prof. J. Morris Jones[99] finds that the syntax of Welsh and Irish differs from that of other Aryan languages in many important respects, _e.g._ the verb is put first in every simple sentence. Prof. Rhys had suggested that these differences represented the persistence in Welsh and Irish of the syntax of a pre-Aryan dialect, and as the anthropologists hold that the pre-Aryan population of these islands came from North Africa, it seemed to Prof. Jones that that was the obvious place to look for the origin of these syntactical peculiarities. He finds the similarities between Old Egyptian and neo-Celtic syntax to be astonishing; he shows that practically all the peculiarities of Welsh and Irish syntax are found in the Hamitic languages. This conclusion practically implies that the bulk of the population of these islands, before the arrival of the Celts, spoke dialects allied to those of North Africa. The syntactical peculiarities must have represented the habits of thought of the people, which survived in the Celtic vocabulary imposed upon them. These conclusions were not known to me when I began to see the necessity of separating the cult of the June from that of the May year, and the identity of the conclusions drawn from astronomical and linguistic data is to me very striking and also suggests further special inquiries. It is also worth while to state that the Semites, including the Hebrews and Phœnicians, did not burn their dead. Finally, I may quote a remark made by General Pitt-Rivers in the paper already referred to:--“If we do not accept one old civilization as the origin of the various practices, then we must assume accidental origins in each country.” [83] Wood-Martin, p. 265. [84] _Dolmens of Ireland_, ii., p. 696. [85] _Ibid._, ii., p. 580. [86] _Ibid._, p. 772. [87] _Journal Eth. Soc._, N.S., i., 64. [88] _Journ. Eth. Soc._, N.S. i., 64. [89] _The Mediterranean Races_, p. 4. [90] _The Oldest Civilisation of Greece_, p. 105. [91] This I gather from the plan prepared by Lieut. Glascott, R.N., who apparently accompanied Mr. Layard. He indicates the true north point with a sailor’s precision in such matters. (See p. 305). [92] _Evolution of the Aryan_, Translation by Drucker, § 32. [93] The prevalence of solstitial customs in Sardinia and Corsica, with apparently no trace of the May year, tends to support this view, which is also strengthened by the fact that the solstitial customs in Morocco are very similar to those we read of in Britain: the May year is unnoticed, and there is a second feast at Easter (March 16th). See Westermarck in _Folk-lore_, vol. xxi., p. 27. [94] And if thou wilt make me an altar of stone, thou shalt not build it of hewn stone: for if thou lift up thy tool upon it, thou hast polluted it.--Exodus, xx., 25.